Early
this year, attacks that allegedly originated from China against
Google and other major tech firms were revealed. The attacks against
Google resulted in compromised email addresses and the theft of
data.

The attacks led to a confrontation between Google and
the Chinese government that eventually grew to involve the U.S.
government and turned into a censorship battle. Ultimately, Google closed its Chinese site
and redirected
users to the Google Hong Kong page that was less filtered
than the Chinese page.

Naturally, the Chinese government
didn’t like the fact that Google was redirecting users to other
webpages for search. With the operating license that allows Google to
run search operations in China up for renewal soon, the search giant
is suddenly backing
off and no longer redirecting some users from the Google.cn page
to the Google Hong Kong page automatically. For searchers who land on
the Google.cn page to be redirected, they have to click the anywhere
on the page.

Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote
in a blog post, "It's clear from conversations we have had with
Chinese government officials that they find the redirect
unacceptable, and that if we continue redirecting users, our Internet
Content Provider license will not be renewed." He also stated,
"Without an ICP license, we can't operate a commercial website
like Google.cn so Google would effectively go dark in China."

Google
is trying to renew is the Internet Content Provider license that is
required by every website that operates in China. Without the
license, the website will not be available to the largest internet
using market on the planet.

According
to Reuters,
the likelihood that Google is making this move without having talked
to Chinese authorities would is remote. The action Google is taking
is likely a result of negotiations between the search firm and China.